#slayersweek2020

Happy picked the request off the board and gave it to Natsu, who quickly skimmed over it.

Isn't seafood great? Speaking of which, there's been an abnormal number of fish at the beach of late. They're a bit wild for me to handle myself, but they should be no problem for a guild wizard, right? I wanna try some fish! You can have whatever is left over.

Rank: A

Rewards: 27000J, Forefront Talisman

~Rebecca

Happy’s eyes were as big as saucers as he pleaded for his partner to consider the job he’d found.

“Fish, huh? Well, you know I never say no to free food. Let’s do it!” Natsu announced loudly.

“What are you so excited about, Fire Breath?” Gray Fullbuster, Fairy Tail’s resident ice mage, walked up to them, a curious look on his face.

“Believe it or not, Happy finally found a request that offers fish as a reward,” Natsu explained with a chuckle.

He decided to take a chance and asked, “Wanna tag along? It’s been a while since we did a job together.”

Before Gray had a chance to answer, a voice suddenly spoke up from behind them. “I hate to burst your bubble, but check the request again."

The trio turned around, recognizing the voice and in Natsu’s case, the scent of Sabertooth's dragon slayers and their Exceeds. Sting held up a request form similar to the one that Happy had just picked off the board, grinning widely and pointing at the requested mages.

"The client is asking for the dragon slayers, so it looks like you and I will be teaming up, Natsu!"

He looked as excited about this as Happy was about the prospect of getting to eat the leftover fish, talking too much, too fast. Natsu kind of tuned it out as he looked at Gray, feeling a little disappointed because he'd been looking forward to going on a job with him.

Gray frowned moodily at the Twin Dragons, Sting in particular. "You're here again? Don't you have other places to be?"

"Of course not, it's not like either of us is responsible for running a guild or anything,” Rogue responded sarcastically, side-eyeing Sting for emphasis, “But a request is a request, I suppose."

"Oh come on, Rogue," Sting whined back at him. "Gajeel is coming, you like that, right? And Wendy too! It'll be just us dragon slayers. We’ll have a great time!"

"I guess."

"Aye!" Happy chimed in, "not to mention we get all-you-can-eat fish! Everybody loves fish, right?"

"Not particularly," Carla rained on his parade, walking towards them with Wendy, Gajeel, and Panther Lily following close behind.

"Well, you're all Exceeds, and since we're going, you're coming too." Sting completely disregarded Carla's attitude, beaming at her as if he didn't see the glare she threw at him, "I'm sure you'll have fun!"

"You just want to hang out with Natsu," Happy called him out.

"Yep, he just wants to hang out with Natsu," Carla agreed with Happy for once, although she still looked less than thrilled.

Lily, Lector, and Frosch voiced their agreements as well, and at that point, Gray seemed to have had enough of the conversation.

"Knock yourselves out, I'm going on a job of my own," he said, not sparing any of them another look while he ripped the first flyer he could reach off the board. He headed straight for the exit but was stopped by Juvia begging him to take her along, and much to Natsu's dismay, Gray agreed.

Natsu could only stare at the guild doors as they closed behind them, unable to express any of the thoughts or feelings conjuring up a storm inside him.

0-0

They arrived at Akane Beach in the early afternoon. The weather was nice, perfect for a day at the shore, and it showed in the number of visitors present.

Wendy inhaled deeply and smiled happily, "The sea breeze smells so nice. Remember how much fun we had when we came here to train for the Grand Magic Games, Natsu-san?"

They’d come there to train as a team but had ended up spending most of their time in the Celestial World instead. Still, Natsu had fond memories of that trip.

“It was fun,” Natsu agreed as images of days spent swimming, sunbathing, building sandcastles, and having playful competitions of all sorts with Gray brought a smile to his face. Back then, they had just been happy to be alive after their encounter with Acnologia on Tenrou Island. They’d genuinely believed that the worst was behind them.

“I wonder where this Rebecca is,” Gajeel’s gravelly voice interrupted Natsu’s thoughts, bringing him back to the reason they were there.

“Maybe it’s that woman who’s trying to get our attention?” Rogue suggested dryly, pointing to a young woman standing further down the beach, arm raised in an exaggerated wave.

"Fro thinks so, too!"

“Yeah!” Sting agreed, eagerly walking over to meet her but not before telling Natsu, “This time, I’m going to take out more monsters than you.”

“In your dreams,” Natsu snorted, hurrying to reach the girl first.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a team job?” Wendy asked, staring after the two dragon slayers in confusion.

“Yeah,” Gajeel replied, “but you try telling that to those two idiots.”

“It’s like I don’t exist,” Rogue muttered under his breath, causing Gajeel and Wendy to peer at him confusedly.

“Come on, we’d better get to that lady before they make us all look bad,” Gajeel grumbled, speeding up to catch up to Natsu and Sting.

"Hi there! I’m Rebecca, nice to meet you!” the woman greeted them, “ I’m the Vacation Specialist for Akane Resort, thank you so much for coming. I’m glad you could make it so soon!"

"No problem, where are the fish?" Happy cut straight to the chase and was already searching the beach with hungry eyes, much to Natsu’s amusement.

Rebecca started at Happy with wide eyes as she took in the other Exceeds, her gaze softening when she saw Frosch who waved at her cheerily. That seemed to snap her out of it enough to answer Happy’s question.

"They’re a bit further down at our private beach. We closed off the area to prevent anything dangerous from happening to any of our visitors. It would be great if you could take care of this quickly so we can open it up again. There are some holiday cabins we had to keep vacant, and we'd like to make them available as soon as possible."

“I’m on it!” Natsu and Sting chorused before taking off in the direction Rebecca had mentioned with Happy and Lector chasing after them.

The other slayers gave each other an uneasy look but ultimately shrugged, trusting that Natsu and Sting would be fine.

“Is there anything else we should know before we join our colleagues?” Rogue asked, impatient to get moving but wanting to know what they’d be up against.

“Well, a few of the employees we sent to shoo the land whales away ended up frozen,” Rebecca explained, “that’s when we decided to ask the guilds for help.”

“We’ll do our best!” Wendy exclaimed, bowing her head and waving to their client before following the two older slayers across the beach.

Sounds of fighting pushed them to move faster until they found Natsu and Sting already engaging the large fish creatures further down the beach.

What looked to be a pod of fifteen land whales moved along the beach; their eyes fixed on Natsu and Sting. There were three different types: small, gray ones that had a dark, dome-shaped, and glossy organ atop their head, larger ones that were cream-colored, with green domes, and one massive black whale, whose dome was blood red.

“Natsu, not so hot! We won’t be able to eat the fishies if you burn them to a crisp!” Happy cried out, and although Natsu looked like he wanted to complain, the temperature of his attacks decreased.

Lector seemed to have no such concerns when one of Sting’s lasers split one of the smaller whales in half, searing the edges of the cut parts. His enthusiastic cheering managed to drown out Happy’s disapproval.

A loud wail arose from the black land whale, which appeared to be the leader, causing the medium-sized whales to surround the smaller ones. Rogue felt a sudden surge of magic coming from the massive creature and sunk into his shadow, rushing towards Sting.

“Look out!” he managed to yell before re-emerging and shoving his partner out of the way in the nick of time. He’d hoped to evade the vortex that whirled towards them as well, but got hit and found himself encased in ice all the way to his neck instead.

“Oh, great,” he muttered as he tried to release himself from the spell’s grasp.

“Thanks! Are you-" as Sting got back up and noticed Rogue, struggling but otherwise unharmed, he couldn't hold back his giggles. "Oh, I see, you're just chilling."

"Pay attention to the fight, you jackass!"

"Sky Dragon Roar!"

Wendy pushed the whale back with her wind attack, and while Natsu, Sting, and Gajeel continued to fight, she hurried over to Rogue.

“Don’t worry, this should just take a minute,” Wendy assured Rogue, already preparing to cast her next spell.

"Raise!"

Rogue could feel Wendy’s magic working on him, and as promised, the ice that surrounded him was swiftly dispelled.

“Thank you,” he bowed his head graciously before taking his place next to Sting.

“That’s five for me,” Natsu boasted, “How are you doing, Sting?”

“Can we just get this done before someone else gets frozen?” Gajeel grumbled, blocking yet another attack from the enraged whale.

“That’s not fair; you’re just picking off the little ones!” Sting complained as he found himself in a heated battle with one of the medium-sized whales. He watched in disbelief as the enormous creature began to roll around in the sand, faster and faster, its body coming barreling towards him in what looked like a fierce tackle.

“Get out of the way, you fool!” Rogue snapped, too busy with his own whale to be of any help.

"Iron Dragon's Sword!"

Sting breathed in relief as Gajeel’s arm stretched to form a long sword, shoving the whale off course and slicing off its tail. Unfortunately, while he was doing that, the largest whale hit him with his ice attack, and suddenly a very pissed off Gajeel stood frozen, much as Rogue had earlier, his arm still extended.

“I am not picking off the little ones!” Natsu protested, darting to the right and gathering his flames for a roar, directed at the largest whale to counter Sting's argument. His fire made a direct hit, causing the whale to screech in pain and anger, but it didn't take it down just yet.

“Gajeel-san!” Wendy called out, distressed to see another friend frozen. She ran to his side, ignoring Lily’s snickers at Gajeel’s predicament. She cast Raise as soon as she was close enough for it to take effect.

"Shadow Drive!"

Rogue boosted his strength, "Forget your stupid competition, we need to focus on the big one and take it out before it gets Wendy, or we'll all be screwed!"

“I’ll take care of it,” Natsu declared confidently.

“Are you stupid? You’re a fire mage, aren’t you weak against ice?” Rogue scolded.

“In more ways than one,” Gajeel retorted, earning a glare from Natsu and confused looks from the others.

“I’ll be fine,” Natsu explained, “I train against ice all the time, I’ve built up a resistance to it. Just trust me. You guys work on taking the others out.”

“Alright,” Sting agreed, his eyes already fixed on the remaining creatures, “Let’s get this done, everyone call one.”

"Gihi, dibs!" Gajeel ran towards one of the whales, using his iron dragon sword again to slice it up.

"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!"

Sting ignored the sound of Natsu fighting, running towards his target, a whale that was getting ready to attack Wendy.

"Holy Ray!"

Sting watched as his attack hit, creating a massive explosion of bright white light that sent the sand flying around them from its shockwave. He smiled as he felt the sudden warmth that signaled the boosts to his attack and defense capabilities that spell granted, not just to him but also to all his team members.

“Sorry, Happy,” Sting apologized as the Exceed wailed at what remained of the whale, “but it’s time to get serious. Stand back.”

“Thank you, Sting-san,” Wendy called out shyly, having already taken out her whale with her most potent spell, Sky Dragon Wave Wind.

Sting spared a moment to smile at her before moving to Rogue’s side, ready to assist as one of the remaining whales launched itself at him. However, before the attack could land, Rogue had already disappeared into the shadows, popping up behind the whale and finishing it off with his slash attack.

"Was that the last one?" Rogue looked around, eyeing all the whale carcasses and checking for any sign of movement, ready to pounce if necessary.

"Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!"

The temperature around them rose to almost intolerable levels as Natsu pushed on with his final attack. Even though the whale put in a valiant effort, it was clear that it wasn’t going to last much longer. Still, it managed to pull off one last spell, freezing Natsu just as he landed. The loss of mobility caused Natsu to lose his balance and fall backward, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome as he'd already released his fireball.

Natsu lay on the sand, staring up at the sky as the others rushed to his side. Wendy prepared to cast her Raise spell but soon noticed her help wouldn’t be needed.

“He put up one hell of a fight,” Natsu remarked cheerfully, his fire already melting the ice that encased him.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Gajeel remarked, looking at the remains of their fight with disgust. The once pristine beach was now littered with fish guts and blood.

“Someone should probably go tell Rebecca we’re done,” Rogue pointed out, and Wendy quickly volunteered with Carla following behind to keep her company.

“Can I eat now?” Happy asked, and it was clear that he was doing his best to wait for approval.

"You want to eat that?" Lector frowned as he looked at the fish remains, "shouldn't we cook it first or something?"

“Why would you want to ruin it?” Happy asked with dismay.

The Exceeds continued to talk in the background, but Rogue tuned them out, his attention drawn to the two reckless morons who stood not ten feet away high-fiving each other seemingly without a care in the world.

“And just what exactly are you two so happy about?” He stomped towards Natsu and Sting, who immediately flashed him their most innocent smiles. "Save it! You just ran off together, without gathering any more information other than our opponents' location, and leaving the rest of us behind!"

"We finished the job together, no harm done," Natsu shrugged, and the complete lack of remorse for his actions only made Rogue more irritated.

"Because we were lucky enough that it was just a pod of land whales we were fighting! What would've happened if you'd run into something unexpected? If it hadn't been a freezing attack, but something more dangerous?"

“But it wasn’t, what’s the use in worrying about something that didn’t happen?” Natsu replied.

“No, he’s right,” Sting joined in, biting his bottom lip in contemplation. “I got excited and forgot everything else, and although it turned out fine in the end, that might not be the case next time.” His moment of reflection ended there, and a big, toothy grin reappeared on his face, “So let’s work hard on our team skills! We’ll do better in the future!” “Team skills? Future?” Rogue gawked at him, “Are you saying you want to do this again?”

“We can talk about this later,” Sting declared, pointing at Wendy and Rebecca’s approaching figures, along with some other guy they hadn’t met when they arrived. “For now, we should start cleaning up some of the mess we made.”

Rogue frowned, clenching his jaws to keep from expressing how much he hated the idea of being forced to watch Sting choose Natsu over him time and time again.

“Goodness, you sure made short work of them,” Rebecca practically beamed at the slayers, “Too bad it ended up being so messy, but I suppose it couldn’t be helped.”

The man had already ventured over to the beach, wielding a large knife he used to check the state of the different corpses.

“That’s Carlton,” Rebecca explained, “he’s one of the resort’s chefs. You are welcome to help yourselves to as much fish as you want after he has selected the ones he wants for tonight’s specials.”

“There should be plenty for everyone,” Rebecca assured Happy, whose ears had drooped at the sight of Carlton claiming his fishies.

More employees arrived, and Rebecca and Carlton divided them into groups, some assigned to clean up, while the others began to lug the land whales back to the hotel’s kitchen. The dragon slayers offered to help, but Rebecca told them just to sit and relax until she could get back to her office for their reward. They soon received the jewels, the lacrima, and as a bonus, they were offered to stay in one of the cabins overnight as part of their reward, which they quickly accepted.

Once Rebecca realized Natsu was a fire mage, she asked him to help her set up a large bonfire for the guests. Sting and Wendy helped him gather some wood from the nearby nature trail, while Gajeel and Rogue sat down on a couple of lounge chairs set under a large thatch parasol just in front of their cabin. They remained quiet for a few minutes before the Iron Dragon Slayer gave a frustrated sigh. “Look, I’m not one to get involved where I don’t belong, but you’ve got the wrong idea about the Salamander.”

“What do you mean?” Rogue took his eyes off Lector and Frosch, who were busy making sculptures out of the sand, and stared at him, confused.

“Fire Dragon Roar!”

The sound of Natsu yelling out his spell startled them momentary, both forgetting Rebecca’s request as each instinctively searched the beach for more land whales.

In typical Natsu fashion, he overdid it, and the flames shot up higher than any sane person would appreciate. Still, his laugh was infectious, and the way Wendy clapped her hands in admiration was adorable, so when Sting ran over to get them both, Gajeel and Rogue followed him, their conversation forgotten.

They moved their portion of the fish to their cabin, and dashed right back out to the beach, not wanting to waste a minute of the remaining daylight. Sting, Natsu, and Rogue spent some time body surfing, while Gajeel and Lily watched over Wendy and the Exceeds.

Hotel guests and tourists alike soon arrived, enticed by Natsu’s fire. They sat in lounge chairs or on bright towels, and the atmosphere became festive as the hotel band began to play on a small stage.

When the evening fell, and most of the other beachgoers had returned to their accommodations, the slayers took advantage of the cabin to wash up and eat. As Rebecca had anticipated, there had been plenty of fish left over, more than they could ever eat, but they put in a good effort. Gajeel sliced up the meat; Rogue seasoned it using some salt and pepper he’d found in the small kitchenette, while Natsu made quick work of the cooking.

"Man, I’m stuffed.” Sting collected their empty plates and tasked himself with washing them, delighted to see Wendy joining him for the drying. “See? We can totally do the teamwork thing,” he smiled at the others over his shoulder, “and we had lots of fun today, right?” “Aside from the part where I became a popsicle, yeah, it wasn’t too bad,” Rogue said after giving it some thought.

Natsu valiantly tried to hold his laughter in, but hearing Gajeel’s gihi worked against him, “Rogue’s face,” he howled, his arms coming up to his stomach as he laughed.

“What’s so damn funny? Both of you got frozen too!” Rogue snapped, still finding it hard to see the humor in the situation.

“Yeah,” Gajeel agreed good-naturedly, “thank god for the Squirt, huh?”

“She was the only one of you to be helpful in any way.”

“So it’s settled then, we’re teaming up,” Sting announced.

“Wait. What?!” Natsu and Gajeel chorused.

“I don’t recall being asked,” Natsu protested loudly, “Besides, I already have a team.”

“Yeah, Glowstick, don’t go around making decisions for us,” Gajeel muttered, “Salamander and the Squirt might like to do the team thing, but Lily and I work alone.”

“I don’t mean a permanent team; I just mean going out on a job together once a week or so, maybe get some training in. You guys can do your regular thing the rest of the time.”

“Well, isn’t that gracious of you,” Gajeel’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Look, the fact of the matter is that Acnologia is going to come back sooner or later,” Sting reminded them, “As we are now, we have no chance in hell of beating him.”

He headed off Natsu’s dismissals by pointing out the one thing he couldn’t deny, “You guys can’t even go into Dragon Force at will yet. But maybe if we train hard and learn how to work together, the next time he makes an appearance, we’ll be ready for him. We owe it to our dragons to try our best.”

Sting was surprised by Natsu’s reaction to his words. His fists clenched at his sides, and whether he realized it or not, he’d covered his body in a thin layer of flames. His expression was the most confusing of all - it was utterly devoid of emotion- something Sting couldn’t remember having ever seen before.

“He has a point, Natsu-san,” Wendy hugged herself tightly, “Our magic is the only one that has any chance of taking him out, and we’ll need to get a lot stronger if we’re ever going to beat him.”

Natsu chewed his lip thoughtfully as he gazed at Wendy, “Alright, if Wendy’s in, then I guess I am too. What about you, Bucket Head?”

“Are you allergic to using each other’s names or something?” Rogue rolled his eyes.

“Why? Does it bother you, Mopey?” Gajeel baited before turning to Pantherlily. “Well, what do you think, Lily?”

“Why are you asking your Exceed?” Sting asked, puzzled.

“I’ll have you know Lily’s not just any Exceed; he was a First Division Commander in the Edolas Royal Army. You could stand to learn a thing or two from him,” Gajeel bragged, “More importantly, though, he’s my partner.”

“I think it’s a sound strategy to ally ourselves with the other dragon slayers,” Lily nodded his approval.

“Then, I guess we’re in as well,” Gajeel announced, “but don’t for a minute think this means you’re the boss of me, Euclifffe. You might be a guild master, but on this team, you’re just another dragon slayer.”

“Gajeel-san!” Wendy scolded, horrified by his rudeness.

“It’s okay, he’s right,” Sting waved away the insult, “If we’re going to do this, it has to be as equals. What about you, Rogue, what do you say?” He grinned at his partner, confident he knew the answer.

Natsu got up from his chair as soon as Gajeel answered. “I’m gonna go outside and check on the fire,” he muttered before exiting the cabin.

Rogue peered at Sting, debating his response. “Does it even matter what I say?" he bit back the rest of his words, noticing the tension that hung around them, and not wanting to make it worse, but he did make a point of staring at the door through which Natsu had just left.

"Huh? What do you mean? Of course it does," Sting said perplexed, his gaze ping-ponging between Rogue, the two other slayers, and the cabin door as he tried to figure out why the conversation had taken a turn for the worse.

“He doesn’t mean anything by it,” Gajeel explained, “He hasn’t been the same since he came back from his training thing.”

“Oh, crap! I didn’t think when I brought up what happened at Tartaros,” Sting groaned, understanding his mistake, “I didn’t realize he was still upset about it.”

“It’s getting late,” Carla interrupted, recognizing the conversation would probably only become more upsetting, “You should get to bed, Wendy.”

“But-” Wendy’s eyes were fixed on the cabin’s door.

“No buts, Natsu will be fine. He just wants some time alone,” Carla insisted.

“Don’t worry, Squirt, I’ll go check on him in a bit,” Gajeel declared, and that seemed to be enough to reassure Wendy.

“I suppose,” she looked down, smiling fondly when she noticed Happy was fast asleep. “I guess I should get him to bed, goodnight everyone,” she scooped the sleeping Exceed into her arms and followed Carla to her bedroom.

Rogue did the same, picking up Lector and Frosch, who had been snoring alongside Happy and taking them to one of the other rooms. He left without saying another word.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Sting asked Gajeel.

“I think there’s only one person who can help him through this, but he’s not here at the moment,” Gajeel replied thoughtfully, “but I’ll give it a shot in his place.”

Sting raised an eyebrow at that, but when Gajeel didn’t expand on who it was, he decided to leave it alone. It wasn’t any of his business anyway.

“Later,” Gajeel said before going off in search of Natsu.

"Later…" Sting put the last of the dishes away and looked around the cabin. Only he and Lily were left, but the exceed was already hopping off his seat, giving him a quick nod before heading off towards the bedroom he would be sharing with Gajeel.

Nothing had gone how Sting had imagined when they'd agreed to stay in the cabin together for the night. He'd expected, or at least hoped that the idea of teaming up would be received with a bit more enthusiasm, that they'd all grow a little closer, but it felt as if the opposite was true. He guessed he'd been too optimistic.

0-0

Lector and Frosch were sleeping peacefully, each tucked in one of the beds that were on opposite ends of the small bedroom. Rogue sat down on his bed next to Frosch, debating whether he should go back to the living room or just sleep. It had been a long day, and he wasn’t looking forward to any more discussions. He smiled fondly when Frosch mumbled something in their sleep, distracted just enough to calm down a little. He’d been internalizing his emotions all day, letting them simmer to the point where he’d been this close to boiling over and saying things he’d only regret later. Maybe he should just sleep it off and face it with some fresh energy again in the morning, save his woes for another day.

Just as he’d made peace with that idea, having already taken off his boots and jacket to store away into the empty closet, there was a soft knock at the door.

“Hey, are you still up?” the whisper of Sting’s voice sounded from behind the bedroom door, and Rogue had to repress an exasperated groan. After feeling bypassed and replaced all day, he wasn’t sure if he should be happy or annoyed that his partner was coming to check on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to ignore Sting either. He never could.

“What is it?” Rogue opened the door, hating the way his heart skipped a beat at the sight of his partner, and that stupid, sheepish, disarming smile he flashed him.

“I don’t know, you seemed mad. Can we talk about it?”

“I wasn’t mad,” Rogue stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him and walking over to the kitchenette to pour a glass of water. “I was disappointed.”

“Okay, somehow that feels worse,” Sting frowned, following and observing him closely. “So why were you disappointed?”

“Because-” Rogue stared into his glass, thinking about what he wanted to say, “because you keep raving about this team stuff, but you seem to have forgotten we are a team. You didn’t even bother to discuss this with me first. I was the last one to give an opinion.”

“And it’s not just that,” he continued before Sting had a chance to respond. ”It’s like you don’t care about what I think at all lately. After the Grand Magic Games, we vowed to rebuild Sabertooth from the ground up- together, but instead, you keep looking to Fairy Tail to improve our guild. I don’t want to be them; I want to be us.”

He cringed internally upon hearing himself saying that last part, even though he knew Sting was way too dense to recognize its hidden meaning.

“I never realized that’s how you felt about it...” Sting said, looking genuinely dismayed. “I do care about what you think, but…I don't know, I just want to do a good job, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I guess I didn't want you to notice."

“You’re still scared to fuck up," Rogue nodded, recognizing that feeling all too well. It was a habit that was hard to break after years of fearing punishment for having failed. "Well, that makes two of us, so can we at least trust in each other for back up again, like we always have?"

"Yeah, of course," Sting was happy to agree, "I'm sorry for forgetting that in the first place."

He caught Rogue completely off guard by pulling him into a hug, almost making him drop the glass. Rogue didn't dare ask where this sudden affection came from, afraid that the words would come out wrong, and it would be the first and the last time.

"So, what do you think about teaming up with the other dragon slayers?" Sting asked, pulling away just as quickly again. "If you're out, then I am as well."

"I-I, uh…" Rogue stammered, still a bit perplexed, "yeah, let's do it."

"Alright, let's go tell the others then," Sting smiled, but then pouted again as he remembered Natsu storming off earlier. "I should apologize to Natsu as well. I should've known better than to bring up our dragons so casually."

Rogue finished his water and placed the empty glass back on the counter. "Yeah, you're downright rude sometimes," he grinned, unable to resist teasing his partner about his lack of tact. “But you heard Gajeel, it’ll be fine.” He offered Sting a reassuring smile before following him outside, feeling less tired already.

0-0

Natsu closed the cabin’s door behind him, taking a few small breaths to try to calm down his racing emotions. Once he felt a little better, he took off his shoes, enjoying the feel of the cool sand against his feet.

He headed towards the remains of the bonfire, the flames he’d conjured earlier had mostly turned to embers, but he built them back up to the size of a regular campfire before sitting down next to it. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he stared off at the waves, attempting to fight off the melancholy that Sting’s words had reawakened.

His training journey hadn’t been anything like he’d expected. His power and stamina had undoubtedly increased, a testament to all the hard work he’d put into his efforts to get stronger so he could defeat anyone who came his way. So that he’d never again be forced to watch as someone he loved was taken away from him. But despite his best attempts at fulfilling his promise to Igneel to look to the future, all he could do was focus on his past failures.

It was more than that though, Igneel had been his future, and now that he’d been taken away from him, Natsu felt lost. He’d hoped that once he saw his friends again, he’d get back to his usual self, or at the very least that Gray or Erza would beat this feeling out of him, but it hadn’t worked out that way.

Instead, Lucy had been angry with him for leaving, while Gray had joined a dark cult. And even though it had turned out to be part of an undercover mission for Erza, Natsu could tell that his friend had changed. Whether it was due to his new magic or the things he’d experienced while being a part of that cult, Natsu had no way of knowing.

Even worse, Gray had moved in with Juvia during his absence, dashing any hopes Natsu had held that the ice mage might return his feelings.

He sighed in discontent, he was trying to be what everyone expected of him, but it was so exhausting, especially when all he wanted was to train and hide out in his house.

“Wendy’s worried about you.”

Natsu turned his head to find Gajeel standing beside him. He’d gotten so caught up in his thoughts he hadn’t detected him at all.

“She shouldn’t, I’m fine.”

“Sure you are,” Gajeel snorted before sitting next to him and gazing out at the ocean. “It’s nice here. I’d never been here before today.”

“Yeah, I’ve always liked this beach,” Natsu replied, ignoring the dragon slayer’s comment.

“So, what do you really think about Sting’s little idea?” Gajeel grabbed a twig and stuck it in the fire, creating a small torch that he waved around lazily in front of him.

Natsu shrugged, “It can’t hurt, right? Besides, if it gives us any kind of edge against Acnologia, we’d be fools to say no. We should probably talk to Sting about including Laxus and Cobra.”

“Won’t that be fun?” Gajeel visibly grimaced at the thought.

Natsu snorted, “How much d’you wanna bet Laxus zaps Sting ten minutes after meeting him?”

“I suppose you’d know better than anyone,” Gajeel pointed out with a shrug.

Natsu grinned in acknowledgment, struggling to keep the smile plastered on his face.

“You don’t have to do that on my account,” Gajeel commented, “Frankly, you don’t have to do that at all.”

Natsu peered at him in confusion, “Do what?”

“Act like nothing’s wrong, you’re not fooling anyone with that shit.”

“I’m -,” Natsu tried to argue that he was fine but found he couldn’t get the words out, “What am I supposed to do?”

“Hell if I know. Yell, cry or, I dunno get up the balls to talk to the one person who understands what you’re going through.”

“I can’t.”

“Why? Cause you got the hots for him?”

“I don’t!” Natsu was quick to deny the accusation, but when Gajeel smirked at him, he couldn’t hold his gaze, and the Iron Dragon Slayer only laughed knowingly.

“There’s no point now,” Natsu admitted, slumping his shoulders in defeat, “he’s already made his choice.”

“Know that for a fact, do you?” Gajeel rolled his eyes at him, “Never figured you for a coward.”

“I’m not a coward!” Natsu snapped, he could feel his anger stirring at the taunt, but it wasn’t enough to overcome his gloom. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Gajeel startled him by being the one to look away, “You’d be surprised.”

Before Natsu had a chance to ask what he meant by that, Gajeel changed the subject, “So, how long have you been lusting after the Ice Prick?”

“It’s not like that!” Natsu protested, offended by the implication that his feelings for Gray would be that shallow.

“Fine, fine, how long have you been moping over your everlasting love and devotion for the Ice Princess?”

“Ugh, why do you have to be such an asshole about it?” Natsu complained, “Probably since Galuna, although I didn’t exactly realize it at first.”

“I’m surprised that you realize it now,” Gajeel snorted before his eyes narrowed and his tone changed to grudging respect, “Wait, Galuna? Wasn’t that the S-Class Mission you took without permission?”

“You went on an S-Class mission without permission?” Sting asked excitedly.

“Tact, Sting,” Rogue sighed. “What he meant to say is, are we interrupting anyt-”

“Yeah, we did! Completed it too!” Natsu grinned proudly, purposefully not mentioning how it would have been impossible without Erza’s help.

“What’s an S-Class mission like?” Sting asked, his eagerness showing in the way he was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Sabertooth doesn’t have S-Class?”

“Nah, we’re trying to get something going, but it’s going to take a while. The council has bigger things to worry about right now, ” Sting explained, “So your mission, what was it like?” He plopped down on the sand next to Natsu and Gajeel, Rogue following suit.

“We had to destroy the moon,” Natsu couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease Sting.

Rogue blinked slowly, “Destroy the moon?” He looked up at the night sky, where the moon was still very much present. “Why would anyone want that?”

“The island’s inhabitants were cursed, and they blamed the moon,” Natsu explained, “They thought if we destroyed it, their curse would be broken.”

“I can see you and the Bunny Girl doing something that stupid, but how the hell did you talk the Ice Prick into it?” Gajeel asked with interest.

Natsu laughed nervously, having conveniently forgotten that part, “Uhm, well, you see, Gramps sent him to bring us back. Gray found us when we were trying to convince a boat captain to take us the island. He wouldn’t listen to reason, so I knockedhimout, tiedhimup, and put him in the boat,” he said, knitting the words together, eager to return to the part of the story where he didn’t sound like an asshole.

“You knocked him out and tied him up?!” Gajeel roared, slapping his knee as he laughed, “I can just picture his face when he came to.”

“Well, it would’ve been fine if the boat hadn’t capsized,” Natsu defended himself.

“Boat?” Sting looked green, just thinking about it.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Rogue muttered, horrified by pretty much every word that came out of Natsu’s mouth.

“Anyway, it was pretty complicated; this group was trying to use Moon Drip to help free a Demon of Zeref that was encased in ice underneath this old temple’s ruins.”

Natsu quickly realized that he shouldn’t have started discussing this mission. He didn’t feel like he had the right to tell others about Gray and Lyon’s conflict, especially since Sting and Rogue knew both of them. But now that he’d started, he couldn’t very well just stop, could he?

“We fought them off, but then the leader ordered the village destroyed and all its inhabitants killed. Obviously, we kicked their asses, but it didn’t help with the demon issue. I managed to tilt the temple enough so that the Moon Drip couldn’t reach the demon, but another mage showed up and used this crazy magic to undo it, ” Natsu glared, still annoyed by Ultear’s dirty trick.

“Next thing I know, the demon was released from its seal, and Gray tried to cast a spell he’d learned from his Master, so I stopped him. Good thing too, the demon was already dead.”

“Wait, I don’t get it, why would you stop him?” Sting’s brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what Natsu was leaving out.

“Because, it would have killed him,” Gajeel guessed, flashing him a look of understanding that Natsu immediately disliked. “Am I right?”

“Yeah, it’s a spell that’s powered by the caster’s spirit, it transforms their body into an unmeltable ice prison.”

“There are spells like that?” Rogue marveled, “That’s horrible.”

“Stupid Ice Princess,” Natsu growled, still furious that Gray would even consider such a thing.

“You really care about him a lot, don’t you?” Sting’s smile was warm, “Have you been friends for long?”

“Uhm, I don’t know if I’d call us friends, but we’ve been fighting each other since we were kids,” Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to explain their weird friendship.

“Anyhow, we won, but it turned out none of that had anything to do with the curse. Erza was the one who finally figured it out,” Natsu admitted. “S-Class quests are hard.”

“Wait, when did Erza get there?”

“Oh, some time while I was working on the temple, I guess,” Natsu shrugged, “She commandeered a pirate ship to take her there. She was sent to take us back to the guild when we didn’t return.”

“That whole thing sounds so cool,” Sting grinned, “I can’t wait to go on a mission like that!”

“I thought it was just you, but your entire team is insane,” Rogue gaped at Natsu, who could only smile sheepishly in reply.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it, Wendy’s the only sane one in the whole bunch,” Gajeel confided with a playful grin, “The stories I could tell.”

“I bet we’ll have even more fun when we go on jobs,” Sting exclaimed excitedly.

Rogue groaned, “I hope not, I don’t know if I can handle that much, uhm fun.”

“Where should we train?” Natsu asked, getting caught up in Sting’s enthusiasm.

“Knowing you two, as far away from any cities as we can possibly get,” Gajeel teased Sting and Natsu.

Rogue snorted, before adding “I saw on one of the requests I was looking at earlier this morning that there were some tough monsters in Mikage Forest. We could start there?”

“Tough monsters? Count me in!” Natsu bumped fists with an equally excited Sting. Even Gajeel looked enthused by the idea.

“Natsu, does your team have a set schedule?” Sting asked.

“Not really, Erza’s the one who usually picks our jobs,” he admitted, “but I don’t think she’ll mind if we let her know ahead of time.”

“Then, we could get started as soon as next week?” Rogue asked, and when Natsu and Gajeel nodded, he declared, “Great, I’ll put together a list of potions that I’ll expect everyone to bring, just in case.”

The other slayers all groaned, but no one argued the point. “Did you plan on talking to Laxus and Cobra?” Natsu asked, suddenly remembering he’d mentioned them to Gajeel earlier.

“Oh yeah! I didn’t think about those guys,” Sting admitted, “Do you think they’d want to?”

Natsu shrugged, “Won’t know unless you ask.”

“True.”

“Hey, about the dragons,” Sting started, dropping his cheerful act and staring at the sand. “I uh, wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean to upset you. Sometimes I forget it was different for you guys,” he explained, looking remorseful.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m still having a hard time accepting that he’s gone,” Natsu admitted, “but it’s getting better.” Sting lay back on the sand, staring at the stars with interest. “Do you think we did this when we were little?”

“Did what?”

“You know, hang out. I mean, I don’t remember much, but it sounds like our dragons knew each other.” Sting pointed out.

Natsu couldn’t help but notice that Sting sounded wistful, “I don’t know. I don’t remember much either, but I guess it’s possible. You guys would have been younger than us then,” he smiled, thinking of what that might have been like.

“For the longest time, I thought I was the only one,” Natsu recalled, “until I met Gajeel and then Wendy.” “I thought the same before I met Sting. It’s nice to have someone who understands, and I know we all disagree on a lot of things, but I’m glad we met each other.” Rogue smiled, looking genuinely content for the first time that day.

“I suppose I can put up with the lot of you, now and again,” Gajeel muttered.

“I think this team thing is gonna be fun,” Natsu proclaimed, finding himself looking forward to embarking on a new adventure.

They’d keep getting stronger, and when the time was right, Acnologia wouldn’t know what hit him.

The house was quiet without Gajeel’s loud attempts to sing over the upbeat party songs Chelia played on the radio. They had been teasing each other all morning over the other’s bad music tastes and auguring over who the best decorated was. As she listened to them laugh and joke around, Wendy remembers fondly how unneedlessly nervous worried she was introducing the two.

Worry over losing those close to her was something Wendy was very familiar with.

First she lost the only mother she ever knew.

Then it was watching her Cait Shelter family disappear right before her eyes.

Fairy Tail was supposed to be different. It was meant to be her forever home with her loveable wild family.

And she had lost it.

Lost Natsu and his fierce spirit

Lost Lucy and her kindness.

Lost Gray and his willingness to do anything just make her smile.

Lost Erza and the protectiveness she always showed towards Wendy.

And most of all, she lost Levy.

Levy who welcomed Wendy into the guild with open arms and a cheerful welcome to Fairy Tail!

Levy who never minded Wendy’s endless questions about Magnolia and magic .

Levy who would bring special books back from her jobs for Wendy to read.

Levy who would allow Wendy to crash at her apartment whenever she wanted eventually leading to giving Wendy one of the spare bedrooms and them decorating it together.

Levy who would brush her fingers gently through Wendy’s hair to help calm the sky mage down whenever nightmares or scenes from her past came to back to haunt her.

Levy who would gently brush her lips against Wendy’s forehead at night before tucking her in.

Levy who had taken on a role in Wendy’s life she had not had since Grandeeney.

And just like Grandeeney, Wendy had lost her.

After the fall of Fairy Tale, Wendy was once again left out in the world with no mother, no family, and no home. Had it not been for Chelia, Wendy would have broken completely. She was the one who held Wendy day after day as the sky mage mourned the loss of yet another mother, another family, another home. Chelia was the only one outside of Gajeel, Jet and Droy who knew just how close the two blue-haired mages were. And she often compared Wendy’s relationship with Levy to her own and Sherry’s. Chelia was her anchor keeping her feet firmly on the ground even as her heart broke into a million pieces.

The past few months have been a whirlwind of change as she is now back in Magnolia helping the efforts to reestablish fairy tail. Back with Levy and Gajeel and Chelia celebrating her birthday.

Wendy leans against one of the brightly colored walls taking in the scene laid out in front of her.

The streamers, the decorations, the presents already stacking in the corner. It seemed so normal that it felt off. After all the way and fighting and tears, would things really to back to normal so soon? Could she really sit here and enjoy her birthday with her girlfriend and her mother-figure and stepfather figure with newly reestablished Fairy Tail family?

Could she have this? Have happiness and a family again?

“There you are,” a soft voice called from behind her. She didn’t need to turn to know who it was. Levy’s scent was forever immortalized in her being. Even with the slight change in her scent these days.

Levy placed a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder. Unable to help herself, she raised her hand to run her fingers through Wendy’s shorten hair. This girl had grown so much from the shy sky maiden to a fierce sky dragon slayer. It was crazy to think that the girl she used to read magic scrolls to was now strong enough to go up against any villain challenging their family. She was gaining that same sense of fierce protectiveness and unwavering devotion she often saw in Gajeel.

A dragon slayer for a mate, a dragon slayer for a daughter, a  god slayer for a future daughter in-law, and now…

Levy places a hand over her stomach once again feeling the slight curve. To her surprise, another hand joins her.

“Do you ever wonder if it will stay like this?”

“Stay like what Wendy?”

“Like a family,” her voice was small as if she were choking back tears “all of us happy and together again. Do you like this can last?”

A feeling of dread overtook Levy as she felt the hand pressing lightly on her stomach quiver. Of course, no matter how strong she has gotten Wendy was still a child, Levy’s child in her heart. Kneeling down slowly, Levy took both of the small girl’s hands into hers and squeezed gently. “Wendy…” she paused looking away as if she were trying to glance into the future. Try as she might, Levy just couldn’t predict what would happen to their little family in the near future. But life as a Fairy Tail wizard has always been unpredictable.

“I can’t promise nothing world ending will happen again, knowing this guild a new villain will probably show up by the end of the week.” They both chuckled though neither found the possibility amusing. Levy continued to run her fingers through Wendy’s hair making the younger girl sigh and push more into it. “What I can promise you is that whatever happens, we will take it on together. No more splitting up because a family is always stronger together. And should something happen that tries to crack or break us, I promise that we will rebuild stronger and better than before.”